My Favorite Glee Episodes
I don't want to hear it.
I will go to the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. I will let you fall in love with that kitty cat. And then, on some dark cold night, I will steal away into your home and punch you in the face.
I have been mulling over what to write this week, mostly because there’s really nothing worth talking about in pop culture (Oscars best dressed is Ariana, both Schiaparellis—favorite VF after party is Selena and Anna Sawai). And then you sent a screenshot of yourself listening to “Defying Gravity (Glee Version)” so then I started to think about Glee and how much I lowkey love Glee so here it is. My favorite episodes of Glee. Glee.
This is going to be very season 1 heavy just because season 1 is legitimately one of the best pieces of television media of all time, especially the back half. Just banger after banger. And you can quote me on that. Glee came out in…9th grade I think? Yes. The pilot came out in May 2009 (end of freshman year) and episode two resumed in September. I immediately loved it (what can I say—I was a band kid). I kind of fell off during season 5 (gee I wonder why) and then mostly skipped season 6 until the finale. It really became too hard for me to watch. Glee just feels like springtime to me. Much like the word itself, Glee makes me feel things.
The very first time I ever got drunk during my senior year of high school, my friend Aly was house sitting but Glee was on so Chrissy and I paused the partying to watch the episode while everyone else was drinking upstairs and then Quinn got hit by a car. A few months later, I went to the Bahamas with Aly and an old friend Kelsey for spring break and we were getting ready to sneak into a bar but Glee was on so I made them watch it with me and Matt Bomer serenaded us with “Somebody that I Used to Know.” I vividly remember another friend from high school complained how the iTunes top 10 (remember that) was always occupied by the Glee cast after every single episode. Sorry, girl, you just didn’t get it.
I’m going to limit this to top 10 or I really would just put all of season 1 on the list. No particular order, except the last three are my top 3 episodes.
(This is going to get really long, so I suggest reading this in your browser or in-app.)
Pilot (1.01)
You cannot not include this on any Glee list. Just a perfect 40 minutes of television. Everything about it is sublime. I listened to Kevin and Jenna’s first iteration of the Glee rewatch podcast years ago and I remember them talking about how they were able to devote so much time to the pilot that the other episodes didn’t get, and you can really tell. This episode is just so nostalgic for me. I love it so much.
Favorite quote: “You think this is hard? Trying being waterboarded. That’s hard.”
Favorite song: Don’t Stop Believing, obviously
Blame It on the Alcohol (2.14)
This episode is just so funny. Also really fun, and not entirely inaccurate, representation of teen drinking. As for the drunk archetypes (weepy, hysterical drunk; angry girl drunk; stripper drunk; happy girl drunk; and needy girl drunk), I think I’m definitely happy girl drunk. Though when I was younger, I feel like maybe angry girl drunk? I’d like to explore weepy, hysterical drunk a bit. If Ryan Murphy wasn’t so bi-phobic I feel like a Blaine-Rachel pairing would’ve been fun to explore but whatever. We can’t always get what we want.
Favorite quote: “Everybody drink responsibly.”
Favorite song: Blame It
On My Way (3.14)
My love for this episode hinges entirely on “Cough Syrup,” which is easily in my top 10 Glee covers of all time, (and perhaps a hint of nostalgia). I didn’t care for the wedding plot or even Quinn getting hit by the car because like obviously she was going to be fine. But yeah, the Karofsky scenes interspersed with Blaine singing “Cough Syrup” changed me. Also hello Jeff Goldblum!
Favorite quote: “I want Lord Tubbington to kick his Ecstasy addiction.”
Favorite song: Cough Syrup
Sectionals (1.13)
Glee really knew how to do a mid-season finale. This episode gave us so much. Finn finally learning he’s not the dad and you can’t get a girl pregnant without having sex with them. The realization that Santana and Brittany are having sex but not dating. SCARLET FEVER! Will Schuester, war criminal, being banned from sectionals because he slept on a mattress. Like what’s not to love? Side note: I really loved their sectionals dresses and I remember scouring the internet for them (gleestyle.com, anybody?) and they are Aqua.
Favorite quote: “You are about to board the Sue Sylvester express. Destination: HORROR.”
Favorite song: My Life Would Suck Without You (this performance makes me emosh, especially with the recycled choreography)
The Break Up (4.04)
Oh my GOD. Just traumatizing and none of these break ups were justified (except maybe Kurt and Blaine). But every single song was just. Mwah chef’s kiss. And that’s really why this episode here. The performances elevated the entire thing. Can you believe RED didn’t even exist when this episode aired (October 4, 2012)? “All Too Well” would’ve slapped.
Favorite quote: “Wow. Sad songs make me really sad and I don't want to be sad.”
Favorite song: Teenage Dream (acoustic version)
Hell-O (1.14)
Hello, Jesse St. James! I would also stare at him the way Rachel is. Glee was funniest when it was like. Not afraid of being offensive. Like Sue Sylvester slipping Principal Figgins a roofie just to blackmail him into letting her keep her job. Is crazy. But so funny. Also the introduction of Idina Menzel was so iconic. But mostly, Jesse St. James.
Favorite quote: “I want a look that's so optimistic, it could cure cancer.”
Favorite song: Hello
The Substitute (2.07)
We cannot be surprised by this. Will Schuester out of commission…who can possibly fill those shoes? GOOP of course. Also god Glee sure knew how to make a mash-up. Glee was best when it didn’t take itself seriously (part of the reason why season 1 is by far the best is because subsequent seasons lost the campiness), and making Gwyneth Paltrow your substitute teacher was such an inspired decision. I really loved all of Holly Holiday’s episodes.
Favorite quote: “Kurt got us a substitute, so I'm buttering the floor.”
Favorite song: Singin’ in the Rain / Umbrella
Before we get to the top 3, here are some songs I really love that weren’t in the episodes above:
Teenage Dream
A Thousand Years (Marley and Jake Puckerman deserved better)
Landslide
We’ve Got Tonight (a DEVASTATING episode for more than one reason)
Be Okay (the 100th episode slapped in general, but Lea Michele and Naya Rivera duetted really well together)
Somewhere Only We Know (I love a Darren Criss solo, okay??)
Sweet Caroline
I Feel Pretty / Unpretty
Paradise by the Dashboard Light
Listen I could keep going but just know I love a lot of Glee covers and I will nOT apologize for it. Here’s my playlist, if you care.
And here are my top 3. I told you the back half of the first season is near-perfect.
3. Journey to Regionals (1.22)
This episode is basically perfect. I don’t think I’d change anything. Glee peaking with season 1 and having Olivia Newton-John and Josh Groban (kill yourself!) guest star is so funny to me. I am flabbergasted that Will Schuester thought making a set list around the BAND JOURNEY was a good idea. Who the fuck. Anyways, I should say thank you because “Faithfully” is a good song and I wouldn’t have ever found it without this episode. But it does make it realistic because yeah, I totally understand why this unhinged performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody” won instead. It’s really sweet when we learn Sue voted for them. And I like when the judges are mean to her because she’s just a high school cheerleading coach from Ohio. And I just really like how earnest this episode is. Anyways, 10/10. No notes. (Also New Directions is wearing Betsey Johnson. I checked back in 2010.)
Favorite quote: “Break a leg.” “I love you.”
Favorite song: Bohemian Rhapsody (it’d be sacreligious to say anything else, but this episode’s version of Don’t Stop Believing is my favorite throughout the entire show)
2. The Power of Madonna (1.15)
Bar none, Glee’s best tribute episode. I can say with…90% confidence I came into this episode not knowing a single Madonna song (wait except “4 Minutes” with JT). And I remember finishing the episode and downloading like three of the songs. Just a fantastic episode through-and-through. It legitimately had a good plot (not many Glee episodes can say that) and great performances. I also remember really liking Rachel’s red sweater vest. Love! Also, I literally saw a TikTok yesterday where the girl was like “am I the only one who just learned what Madonna meant in ‘Like a Prayer?’” Girl, she literally sings “I’m down on my knees, I want to take you there.” Dare I say, “Like a Prayer” walked so that “False God” could run?
Favorite quote: “Mr. Schue, is he your son?”
Favorite song: Like a Prayer and also Like a Virgin and also Borderline / Open Your Heart
1. Bad Reputation (1.17)
This is my favorite episode of Glee. And it’s funny because it kind of goes against everything else the other episodes have, which are good songs. But I remember rewatching the episode all the time in high school. I just love it so much. Again, this show is best when it knew it was being batshit and there’s no part of this episode that is rational. The songs are all just so shitty. But this is my #1, what can I say. Also, this episode has one of my favorite Sue Sylvester-Will Schuester fights, which I can’t find online so I’m literally going to film it for you right now.
The acting…the writing…the camera blocking…it’s just so perfect.
Favorite quote: See above.
Favorite song: Total Eclipse of the Heart
So many words about Glee! Arguably too many! (This is why you don’t write after midnight.) Glee was such a product of its time, and I’m very thankful for that. 2025 would not have given us Sue Sylvester, I can tell you that much. Next time I’ll make a list of the most offensive things Glee has ever done.
Me flying through glee in like two weeks is always a fond memory lmao
I've never watched glee but this makes me want to try it 🤔